My Hero Romance: Chapter Thirty-Three
{| Chapter Thirty-Three Sasha’s Story It was a foggy Monday morning in Russia. The streets were empty for the brief moment of an early morning, but that didn’t seem to be of any importance once screaming broke out on the streets. A small bundle was thrown into the street, whatever it was having curled up to hide. A woman ran after the bundle, soon revealing that it was a young boy. The woman grabbed the boy and ran off with him, holding him tightly against her chest as she ran. They ran west, hoping to get to Europe in time. There was a forest blocking their path to where they needed to go and for a moment, the woman hesitated before kneeling in front of the boy. A sorrowful apology and a lie was what she told him before handing him a backpack, pushing him into the forest shortly afterwards. She told him she’d follow. The boy didn’t pay much attention to whether or not his mother was following him, but he should’ve noticed sooner because by time he had crossed the forest, he was alone. He looked behind him to show his Momma that he had done such a wonderful job of making his way through the forest. He rummaged through the backpack he was given and found clothes, money, and a photo album. He still didn’t understand so he sat by the forest for a long time, wondering what he had done wrong to be abandoned. He opened the album and found a letter addressed to him. Dear Sasha, I’m sorry to have left you the way I did. It was anything but motherly of me to do such a thing to you and now, you’re probably thinking I abandoned you. That is far from the truth, my love. You know I’d never do such a thing to you. Your Father and I have gotten into some trouble with some villains and they threatened to harm you, so we had to get you out of here quickly. I had hoped that you would be the hero we needed here in Russia, but you must go now. Go to your Uncle in Paris and he will take you somewhere safe. Maybe then you can be the hero your Dad and I always knew you would be. Lots of Love, Mama. There was a brief flash of resentment in the boy’s eyes before he put everything away and got up, making his way towards a town that was in the distance. Looking back on it now, Sasha never did see his parents again. He hadn’t stepped foot in Russia since his forced departure, and maybe that was because he feared they would think of him the way everyone else thinks of him, but then again, he had promised his mother then, on the borders of the forest, that he would be a hero. Maybe that’s why he wanted this title so bad? Maybe that’s why he felt so...unaccomplished when he got his hero license. Is that why he can’t get a grip on this life? Was it even his life to live in the first place? Sasha just didn’t know. The topic of heroism was unusually uncomfortable for him as it was anyways. Sasha thought he could understand the view of heroes after he had found out what his quirk was, but everything just seemed to be falling apart. He was deemed as a villain when he had first discovered his quirk in an American elementary school, a degrading notion really. A quirk doesn’t define who one is, does it? He didn’t spend much time on that thought and instead moved on from that thought. Becoming headmaster of a high school that once beat him down was a great mistake, but he had found solace in doing something so stupid. Perhaps he could show them how nice he actually was, perhaps, for once, he could show them the hero he actually was. That thought alone had giving young Sasha some hope when he was determined to get the position, but as soon as he had it, it was a nightmare that he couldn’t fight. The doubts, the words, the articles, the pain. It all came at him faster than a train, faster than he was ripped from his mother’s arms, forced to run and hide. Then there was her. A woman greater than life itself. He could’ve set her upon a pedestal and made her a god if he wanted to, and he would’ve if she hadn’t had left him so soon. Was that what being a hero was all about? Losing until you’ve got nothing else to lose and hope humanity won’t fear you? No, being a hero was sacrificing all that you had for humanity and getting pain and suffering in return. That was what being a hero was to him. She loved him, and however brief their love was, it was there and now it wasn’t. Like his Mother and Father. What was the purpose of it all? He had nothing to lose, but there was something he needed to gain. He needed the validation that he could be a hero regardless of what his quirk was. Of course, if they denied him that happiness, the one thing they owed him, he’d show them what a villain looks like. He’d make good of that vow. Sasha was once a boy with big dreams, colorful dreams, too. Now, Sasha was a man with broken dreams and only saw in grey.